Raw Intel

A South Korean-developed remote-controlled weapon station capable of networking three or more units into a single coordinated fire system represents a significant step forward for the country’s homegrown defense industry, according to KFN Plus. The system, known as an RCWS, is a remotely operated weapon turret mounted on light tactical vehicles and wheeled armored personnel […]View the full article

Japan’s Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi met Wednesday with the CEO of GCAP’s joint venture design company to declare the three-nation next-generation fighter program “an extremely important project that will determine Japan’s future air capabilities,” Nikkei reported. The meeting, held at the Japanese parliament, brought Koizumi together with Marco Zoff, chief executive of Edgewing, the private […]View the full article

South Korea finalized a $352 million deal on Friday to acquire American SM-6 shipborne missile interceptors for its Aegis destroyer fleet, with the weapons scheduled to reach operational service by 2034, the country’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration reported. The approval, granted by the Defense Project Promotion Committee, South Korea’s senior arms procurement decision-making body, covers […]View the full article

A U.S. Army artillery battalion at Fort Carson, Colorado fired its last rounds as a Paladin unit on May 7, closing out 43 years of service with the self-propelled howitzer while simultaneously becoming the first Paladin formation in the Army to fire using the new Artillery Execution Suite, the Army reported. The 3rd Battalion, 29th […]View the full article

Monocrystal, once one of the world’s three largest producers of synthetic sapphire and a supplier of optical components used in Russian missiles and drones, has notified creditors of its intention to file for bankruptcy with the Arbitration Court of Russia’s Stavropol Krai, The Moscow Times reported. The collapse of the Stavropol-based manufacturer, a subsidiary of […]View the full article

The U.S. Army published a request for information on May 21, asking defense industry companies whether they can build a next-generation long-range optical targeting sensor that would replace two aging systems currently in service with reconnaissance and fire support units across the force. The program, called the Future Advanced Long-range Common Optical/Netted-fires Sensor and going […]View the full article

The U.S. Space Force expanded a contract with Geost LLC on May 13, 2026, by nearly $90 million, pushing the total value of the Oculus Host program to $196 million and extending its completion date to May 2033, a significant commitment that reflects how central space domain awareness in geosynchronous orbit has become to American […]View the full article

The U.S. Navy awarded Science Applications International Corporation, known as SAIC, a $112 million contract modification to continue producing components for the MK 48 Mod 7 heavyweight torpedo, the primary submarine-launched weapon of the U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy. The work covers production of torpedo components, spare parts, production support materials, engineering support, and […]View the full article

The Netherlands is overhauling its entire fleet of 200 Boxer armored vehicles with new drone-killing weapon stations, updated IT systems, and critical spare parts fixes, hartpunkt reported, citing a Dutch Ministry of Defense announcement. The upgrade program covers vehicles that entered Dutch service starting in 2013, making the oldest units now more than a decade […]View the full article

It was a dozen years ago that...we thought—really thought—that with the X-47B we could move from crawl to walk with large unmanned systems. From the OG Blog in July, 2017: I'm interested in how many can I physically wedge on to a carrier deck and/or hangar bay. I'll waive the flight control issue etc - but once you know how many you can actually pack in your helmet bag and carry (given tradeoffs for other aircraft etc) - then we can start to plan orbits, sorties, loss-rate mitigation, etc. Now, if there were a way to stack them like so many Pringles ..... Ponder. Of course, by the end of the year, the usual suspects killed it for all the worst reasons. We could have had…

GE Aerospace secured a three-year engine support contract from Boeing Defence UK to maintain the T700-GE-T701D turboshaft engines powering the British Army’s fleet of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters. The contract places a GE Aerospace field service representative permanently on-site at Wattisham Flying Station in Suffolk, the British Army’s primary Apache base, and routes engine repair […]View the full article

U.S. Marines demonstrated a new airborne drone relay tactic during a recent exercise, using UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters as flying command posts to extend the range and lethality of first-person view strike drones well beyond what ground operators can achieve. Marines with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169, Marine Air Group 39, and 3rd Marine […]View the full article

The U.S. military gave the public its clearest look yet at AEVEX Aerospace’s Disruptor strike drone during Arcane Thunder 26, a multinational exercise that ran from April 6 to April 29, 2026, across Germany, Poland, and the United States, with the drone component tested at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. Soldiers from […]View the full article

Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces conducted their second successful test launch of the RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile on May 12, 2026, firing the weapon from a silo at Dombarovsky near Yasny in the Orenburg region and announcing the result publicly through the Russian Ministry of Defence. The test is Russia’s first publicly acknowledged Sarmat success […]View the full article

Ukrainian forces have tested an unusual tactic that could significantly extend the reach of the Hornet strike drone: launching it from a tethered aerostat at high altitude rather than from a ground-based catapult, a combination that Ukrainian sources claim nearly doubles the weapon’s effective range. The test, details of which circulated through Ukrainian military channels, […]View the full article

Canada signed two contract amendments with Lockheed Martin on May 15, committing a combined $1.15 billion to keep its CC-130J Hercules tactical transport fleet flying and modernized through the end of the decade. The first amendment, valued at $462 million, extends the current maintenance and support contract through June 2029. The second, estimated at $684 […]View the full article

Canada broke ground on two major military construction projects in Latvia on May 19, laying foundation stones for a rotary-wing helicopter facility at Lielvārde Air Base and accommodation buildings at both Lielvārde and Riga in a combined investment of €64 million, or approximately $70 million. The ceremony marked the latest installment in what has become […]View the full article

Russian Su-35 and Su-27 fighter jets repeatedly and dangerously intercepted an unarmed Royal Air Force RC-135W Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft operating in international airspace over the Black Sea in April 2026, the UK Ministry of Defence revealed on May 20, 2026, releasing images and video of the encounters. In the most serious incident, a Russian […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force published a request for information on May 20, seeking industry proposals to design and build a new external weapons pylon for the B-52 Stratofortress bomber capable of carrying munitions up to four times heavier than anything the current hardware can handle. The notice, issued by the Air Force Life Cycle Management […]View the full article

The U.S. Air Force published a sources sought notice on May 20, 2026, signaling that the Long Range Standoff nuclear cruise missile program is moving toward production and that the government is now looking beyond its current sole developer to understand what industrial capacity exists across the defense industry. The notice, issued by the Air […]View the full article